US Marine Corps - The Black Vault

Naval Aviation, 1932-1940 127
the proper weight to air and its possibilities. He considered Theobald a bit
unimaginative and hide bound, and did not hesitate to intimate as much. In
the lecture question periods and during the critiques, he was very effective, and
when he had a different point of view, could expound it well. There were
some interesting clashes between these two men, particularly over the role that
air would have in the event of war in the Pacific, and looking back on it, there
is little doubt that Turner was more often more prophetic than Theobald.
In the two years as hezd of the Strategic Section of the Staff, Turner did
much to revamp the problems and this part of the course to bring it in line
with the most probable developments in naval expansion and the paths that
this might take. The problems and staff presentations had not changed much
for several years and were getting a bit stale. A look at the problems used
during Turner’s time will show that he had a good idea of what the war in
the Pacific would be like. He moved away from the idea that the war would
center around the battleships, and intensified the interest in air operations and
amphibious campaigns. He also outlined a new series of staff presentations, of
which he delivered a good number, which will no doubt still be in the archives
of the College. For one thing he insisted that the staff be able to present their
subjects without reading them and this made for more interesting sessions. As
was to be expected he was very good in conducting critiques and had more
consideration for the opinion of the others than his predecessor had had.lg
Another contemporary related:
I was a student at the Naval War College in 1937 and went to the stzff
there just as Turner was leaving in June 1938. He was highly effective on the
staff-an excellent moderator when strategical and tactical situations were
being discussed by the students. He had a sharp tongue, was quite humorless,
but well read and intensely interested in the work of the College.”
Specific lectures delivered by Captain Turner at the Naval War College
in order to fulfill his instructional duties were legion, but he had special
pride in “Operations for Securing Command of the Seas.” In this lecture,
besides covering the strictly naval aspects of the problem, he took a long
look forward and stressed the need for developing and establishing an
organization and a system of natiorzal strategy and national tactics in order to
provide realistic guidance for handling “the particular problems which may
confront American naval officers. ”
Therefore, the rough patterns of the National Security Council and the
‘8Vice Admiral Bernhard H. Bieri to GCD, letter, 17 Sep. 1960. Rear Admiral Theobald
commanded the North Pacific Force and Task Force Eight commencing May 21, 1942. Turner’s
naval aviator predecessor at NWC was his classmate, Commander Archibald H, Douglas, whom
he had also relieved in the Sarutogu.
10Intemim ~jth Commodore Ralph S. Wentworth, USN (Ret.), 9 Mar. 1964.